Heartfilia Family Secret
by NatsuKiwi
Summary: Lucy takes a tumble while trying to retrieve a box of her mother's belongings, Natsu is there to save the day, but what happens when afterwards a little teasing goes to far and the two of them find out about Layla and Jude's long kept secret about another unknown Heartfilia member. - Nalu love adventure mixed with family drama. Rated M for suggestive scenes.
1. Chpt1 Photo

**|Hey guys! Welcome to Heartfilia Family Secret! Yes this is also going to be a romance story with Natsu and Lucy because I'm Nalu trash… ahahaha!**

 **All fairy tail based is created by the wonderful &amazing Hiro Mashima!**

 **Like I said it'll be Nalu idk about lemon but I think I can work something out for ya loves xo**

 **Enjoy this new story I hopefully commit to bahahha!**

 **Chapter 1: Photo.|**

* * *

Lucy sipped on a cup of warm, lavender tea. The lavender provided by Mirajane who freshly picked the herbs the day before per-request from Lucy. She moaned from how delicious the flavor was. The smell of lavender reminded her of sweet summer, so fresh and bright. Oh how she missed those warm summer days.

In the midst of her day dreaming, A slow late autumn breeze cruised through her room, making her snap back to the reality that summer was over and it was on to a lot of layers and a higher chance of a cold. She groaned before standing from her chair. "I wish magnolia was always warm…" huffing out in displeasure she mumbled a few crude words she had for the Mother Nature.

Cold winds kept washing up into her apartment, turning the once pleasant moment, into an uncomfortable winter hell. Lucy quickly grabbed her long sweater and yanked it over her back and arms before rushing to her window and slamming it, rather loudly, shut. That deserved her a good banging on her wall from a not-so-amused neighbor.

"Keep it down in there!" The neighbor yelled, shaking the wall in the process.

Lucy was tempted to yell back for all the times HE was loud with his girlfriend… but decided she wasn't in the mood for another yelling battle between co-existing human beings. "Sorry Sir, don't know my own strength I guess!" she scratched her neck and laughed nervously.

Again, the neighbor wasn't so amused with her response, thinking she was being sarcastic and unsympathetic. In a mocking tone he replied. "Gee, you would think a damn Fairy Tail wizard would know, now wouldn't they?" Cleary, he was not that familiar with the guild if he really just implied we don't make a mess with a bang.

Now Lucy was the one not amused, but she wasn't about to let him ruin her day anymore then it kind of already is. "Alright, well you have a good day, bye now!" She grabbed her celestial key's and purse before rushing out the door. Ignoring the few comments the man said as she was leaving.

It was a busy Sunday. The streets of Magnolia where filled with little stands all up and down the roads. It was so hard for Lucy not to stop at every little clothing, magic and tinker shop that came her way, she never bought anything because you know, rent and all, but she always imagined just going on a shopping spree for herself and just throw money at everything that caught her eye. Unfortunately reality checks in every so often to remind her she was far from rich, and rent wasn't her only money vacuum in her life. Natsu was one hell of a person to feed, at least Happy was satisfied with a simple fish you get for a few bucks.

* * *

Lucy finally reached the guild after countless window shopping moments that left her lingering longer then expected.

She pushed the doors open, it was loud as usual, even though more then half the guild members were out on jobs. Though, who was she kidding it doesn't change anything, could be one guild member, Natsu in-particular , and still make a loud ruckus to shake the grounds we stood on.

Speaking of Natsu, he came prancing over like usual and wrapped an arm around Lucy, slouching, using her as support. "Sup Luce, how's It hanging." Pun intended, he gave her a big smile and was returned with a brighter one.

"I'm alright, I guess. My neighbor, Mr Issac was a total jerk this morning! Totally put me in a sour mood." Lucy rubbed her head in frustration.

Natsu raised his eyebrow. "How so? Were you singing again? If so I wouldn't blame him." he laughed at his own joke which wasn't very amusing.

Lucy ignored him completely, not even bothering to yell and threaten his life. She proceeded, "So I was in this sweet daydream about Summer and then this nasty cold breeze came through which was the first horrible moment of the day. So I went to shut my window and my neighbor just started banging on the wall and shouting that I was being loud! I barely even slammed it! Total jerk, Right?" She had tried to be a big person about it but that doesn't mean she didn't take offense.

With a huff of exhaustion, she looked up towards her friend. She was met with squinted eyes and a mean smirk. "How bout I give'em a good ol' beat down for ya Luce!" Natsu proclaimed while making a fist and grabbing his bicep.

Happy had joined the conversation through Lucy's rant. He may not know the whole context but he was supportive of Natsu and his wishes to beat up someone. "Aye! Natsu will give'em hell Lushy, and I'll scratch his eyes out too If you want!" Happy yelled with excitement. He landed on Lucy's other shoulder and showed off his sharp claws for confirmation.

Tempting as it was, Lucy Couldn't do that to her poor soul of a neighbor, "No, he wouldn't stand a chance and that's not fair, is it?" she laughed and took a seat at the bar, waving at Mira in the process.

The boys erupted in a sinister laughter. "Yeah that punk wouldn't know what hit him. I'll pound him with the biggest Fire Fist the world's ever seen!" with a jolt of energy he lit his fist in excitement.

"Aye sir! Give him a good right hook too, just so he knows not to do it again!" Happy jumped up and smiled. He was so supportive of his Dragon slayer it was utterly adorable.

Before long the two where reenacting all the fight moves they knew and off in their own little world. Leaving Lucy to in the hands of Mira the She-devil.

"Good morning Lucy! The usual?" Mira smiled toward Lucy in her normal Happy-Go-Lucky self. She was cleaning out a mug in the process.

With a quick glance, Lucy nodded in approval. Her usual consisted of a berry milkshake, with extra strawberries, and an egg omelet filled with all kinds of goodness, too much to explain.

Levy decided to leave her conversation with Gajeel, much to his displeasure, and join Lucy at the bar. She had recently read an amazing novel and she felt it would be a disgrace to their friendship if she didn't share every detail of every page. It was a pack they had made from day one, share every incredible book with each other no matter the time of day. One time, Lucy even sent a 20 page letter to Levy describing her experience and the amazing writing of a book called "Withering heights" while Levy was out on a job.

With a skip In her step and her blue hair bouncing along with every step movement, she reached her busty blonde bestie with a huge smile on her face ready to eject her feelings of this new book onto her. "Lu! This new book I've been reading is tooootally amazing! Okay so-"

Before she could even start her explanation she gets cut off by a very obnoxious Natsu and Gray shouting at Lucy about some sort of fighting. She signed but quickly turned the frown back into a beaming smile. With Natsu around, it was hard for them to ever get alone time to talk about what everyone else finds boring, books and authors.

Levy mouthed "rain check" with a sympathetic smile. Lucy nodded and mouthed "sorry" back with a apologetic smile.

"Yo Luce, who do you think could kick Erza's ass, Me or ice princess! It's definitely me right!?" Natsu gestured with his thumb at himself. He was obviously asking her because he was sure she would be on his side 100%.

Lucy cleared her throat and entwined her fingers together. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "With deep thought and analyzing each of your powers from the time I've known you both, I've come to the conclusion that.." she paused, giving off the suspensive, giving hope.

"It's definitely me, Natsu couldn't hit a target if it was right in his face!" Gray smirked, thinking he was the obvious answer.

"Yeah right, I could too hit a target if it was right in my face!" Natsu spit back with a to his knowledge, a 'great' comeback. Giving him a deserved eyeroll from half the guild.

Lucy furrowed her brows. "Shush! As I was saying… The person who could kick Erza's ass is…" Everyone got quiet, they wanted to know who she was going to choose. Who she believed was stronger.

"Neither of you!" She smiled brightly at the two, making their hopes die with just three words. Erza on the other hand, was very satisfied with her answer.

Gray crossed his arms and scoffed. At least he was handling it a little bit better then our dear friend Natsu. "Oh come on Lucy! You know I could beat her with the snap of my fingers! Besides, you're supposed to choose me cause we're friends, but I guess we aren't, are we!?" Natsu started to pout like a little child, something he was known to do. His ego was hurt, but obviously Lucy meant it in a playful way.

To be perfectly honest. Lucy knew Natsu really could beat Erza, she knows first hand how strong he is capable of being. That being said, he would never actually full on fight Erza even if his life depended on it. She meant a great deal to him even if he never says it. Just like Gray... now that's a person he would never tell how he really felt about him.

The guild laughed loudly at the hurt puppy look the two had plastered on their faces. Priceless. Lucy covered her mouth to substance her laughter, she had a blush of amusement on her face.

Erza walked up behind Natsu and grabbed his shoulder. "So you think you can beat me, huh?"

Natsu became stiff with fear. Gulping the last of the moisture from his mouth, he braced himself for the punch he was about to receive. Which he did receive by the way.

With a two loud bang from Erza's armored fist. Both Natsu and Gray laid on the ground, birds chirping around their heads, whistling early morning bird tunes and that was the end of that.

With the final bite of her meal, Lucy got up and left the guild, waving everyone a goodbye and saying she would be back either later that night or early morning depending on her motivation.

Members of the guild waved and called out their goodbye's before returning to their drinking, fighting and gambling. Natsu and Gray slowly recovering from their enormous headaches.

* * *

The day had gone by quickly, Lucy did a little shopping, which consisted of food and some bathroom essentials, stopped by the library to return and pick up a few books, which took longer then the average person as she couldn't help but stop at every shelf she walked past. After that she stopped at a little food stand on the corner and got herself a small sandwich to go while making her way back home. She desperately needed a bath and relaxation time. Hopefully she wouldn't walk in and find a bunch of idiots rummaging through her home or another run-in with her not-so-friendly, jerk of a neighbor.

It was about 5:50 when she finally reached back at her apartment, her neighbor and his girlfriend going at it like animals. Disgusted but glad she didn't have to deal with him right now.

Rolling her eyes she unlocked her door, preparing herself to yell at who might be in there without her permission. "Alright, whoever is in my apartment I'm going to kick your a-"She stopped to find nobody was there, much to her relief. "Finally, a night I can spend alone and quiet. Lucy time."

With a smile, she threw her purse at the nearby couch and placed her keys on her nightstand and let her jacket slide off her back and onto a nearby chair, telling herself she'll hang it later.

Lucy took out a few grocery's that she had bought early, she decided to make a stew tonight for dinner, she had been craving it all day and decided why the hell not.

After putting the rest in the fridge she grabbed a pot and placed it on the stove. Since she had a special lacrima based stove, a typical stew would take hours while her's will only take about one. Pretty neat, it came with the apartment.

"Alright, now let me make sure I have everything I need… beef, tomatoes, carrots, onions." She carried on down the list of ingredients, she forgot to grab some bay leaves, but she'll make do without.

Slicing and dicing her ingredient and throwing them all together was very easy for her, she learned how to cook from her mother, who taught her a lot in their short time together. She still remembers the first thing she ever made with Layla, it was simple but messy. Biscuits, homemade. She burnt the first batch but was successful on the second, of course now looking back, Layla helped Lucy a little extra so they wouldn't burn again.

Thinking about her mother made Lucy feel her heart strings being pulled, but she smiled from the fond memories they had together, they urged her to take out her mother's belongings and take a peak at the past. She complied with the urge and let her stew simmer for a while.

Before taking out the boxes from her closet, she changed into some comfy pajama's, long pants with little polar bears on them, and a white tank top lined with lace. It was a bit nippy out, if you catch my drift, so Lucy threw on a white zip up jacket and started up her fireplace, unfortunately it's much easier with Natsu around since it took about 10 minutes to get it started with the last remaining matches she had. Even his fire was warmer then these standard flames, funny actually, Lucy never thought fire would have a difference but Natsu sure changed her outlook on that.

Once the fire started going, Lucy signed in relief as she sat back, taking a breath from all that pent-up frustration from the matches that wouldn't stay lit. "Need to go check on that stew before anything else." She signed while forcing herself to stand again. It was painful leaving the warm air behind.

It was about 5 minutes out from being finished so she grabbed a few bowls before realizing she only needed one. It actually made her sad knowing she was eating alone, usually Natsu and Happy and sometimes Gray and Erza would 'join' her for dinner without asking, but for some reason it made her sad at the thought of eating alone. But, She shrugged it off and carried on getting her dinner prepped, her hunger was more overpowering then feeling a little lonely.

Lucy made her way into her living/bedroom and put her bowl of steaming stew on the coffee table, and a glass of wine she insisted she earned for today. With a nod she approved of her successful dinner. "Alrighty, time to get those boxes while it cools."

Lucy made her way to her walk in closet with a step stool. She climbed up on the stool but still wasn't tall enough so she had to resort, embarrassingly, to use her tippy toes.

She finally reached and grabbed the big box but didn't expect the weight of it to be so significant. It was too late, she already had the box over her head... way over. The weight of the box threw her off her feet.

She fell.

The box went flying and Lucy panicked and tried grabbing her hanging clothes for balance but they came flying down with her. She fell and hit the ground with a loud thud, clothes and hangers draped over her, tangling themselves together.

A banging noise came from next door again "How many times do I have to tell you, Keep it down!" her neighbor yelled yet again before going back to his girlfriend.

She rubbed her head before she realized something hadn't quiet made it down yet. "Oh no.." She swung her head up to find the box had hit the shelf and busted open and heading straight for her, all the goods that rested inside coming down at rapid speed.

She was so involved in the moment she didn't register the loud "Lucy move!" being yelled at her. Quickly, she wrapped her arms around her head and turned over, preparing her body best she could for the impact awaiting to come into contact.

Almost like in slow motion, the box came tumbling down, heavy items like small boxes, books, pictures and albums falling out and towards her. Lucy clenched every muscle trying to make an armor out of herself as if it was possible but the only thing she felt was a gust of wind and heat. The loud sound of the box and it's belongings slammed into the person on top of her, causing grunts of displeasure erupting above her.

Something sharp had cut her leg and caused Lucy to jolt in pain and quickly opening her eyes but instead of facing the harsh pain in her leg she was met with Natsu kneeling over top of her, his forehead touching hers, his eyes and teeth clenching shut. He was embracing the pain from the objects that bruised and cut him in this unfortunate event.

Natsu opened his eyes slowly and made eye contact with Lucy. They shot open once he came-to, he didn't quiet know what happened all he saw when he walked in was Lucy laying on the ground and danger coming her way, so the hero that he is, jumped in to protect her.

"Lucy, are you alright!?" He shot up, a few papers sliding off his back.

She sat up, almost hitting him in the head from being so close. "Yeah… I think so? My leg though, I think It got cut." She looked down and started rubbing around the wound, but quickly realized this was only a minor thing for her compared to Natsu who absorbed most of the injuries.

"Oh God! Natsu are you alright!?" She got out from underneath him, not really registering the very, what you would say, risqué position she was in before. If someone had walked in, there would be questions no doubt but she wasn't really thinking about that, she was more worried about the damage done to her best friend.

Waving his hand, Natsu nodded his head. "Yeah, don't worry about it Luce, I've been through way worse, you know that!" He said it through this giant smile on his face, it baffled her how he wasn't scolding her for being clumsy like he usually does.

She didn't buy it. Lucy quickly stood up, despite the pain in her leg from the cut that was rather deep and walked to the bathroom to grab a first aid kit.

Natsu stood up on his own, despite his very intense back pain. It got cut and bruised in the process from the heavy books and sharp objects, he even got a few paper cuts of all things.

"Really Luce I'm fine!" He yelled out to her as he arched to crack his strained back.

Walking out into the living room, Lucy shook her head. "No, you aren't. Now take off you vest I need to clean you up."

Knowing he couldn't convince her otherwise, he slid his ripped, blood stained vest off and hung it on the bed post. He proceeded to tie his scarf around his waist so it wouldn't get ruined from the two bleeding cuts on his back, not very large but deep for sure, probably from the pointed objects. There was also a big bruise on his rib from a large photo album slamming into his side, and one on his lower back and shoulder from old, heavy books.

Lucy rushed over and sat the first aid and herself next to her hurt friend. Tying her hair back she started to clean his wounds with some peroxide which made Natsu flinch a few times from the sudden stinging. "Sorry…" she said in a low, apologetic voice but she continued to wrapped them up tightly and put cooling pads on his back to ease the swelling.

After Lucy finished cleaning him up she stood and picked up the bowl of still warm stew from the coffee table and handed it to Natsu. "Here. You deserve this." She practically shoved the bowl in his face as a apology gift and grinned sheepishly.

He didn't hesitate for a second before snatching it from her hands. "Wow thanks! The whole reason I came over was cause I had this feeling you made something super delish and then when I got here it smelled like heaven so I rushed inside! Only to find you falling flat on your ass." He laughed.

Lucy rolled her eyes at that last part, but flattered that he thought her food smelled, in his words, heavenly. "Well... go on and taste it. Tell me how it is." She grinned.

Natsu happily obliged and took a big spoonful of stew and plopped it into his mouth. The second those sweet juices of the buttery, melt in your mouth beef touched his taste buds, he practically fainted. The sweet taste of the cut-up carrots just fell apart in his mouth, the sauce sending shivers down his spine. It wasn't even spicy like he likes most things, but man oh man was this a heavenly meal.

Natsu moaned before sinking back into the pillows that Lucy had propped up for him. "Oh god Lucy, this is unbelievable! Where did you learn to cook like this!" He practically drank the rest of it he ate so fast.

Lucy couldn't help but blush, it was such a compliment that he enjoyed her food so much, she never really cooked for him before, only making him sandwiches or throw in the oven meals. It was very rare that she had time to actually cook a decent meal and not let it burn which is what Natsu was used to tasting since he always preoccupied her with his nonsense.

"Thanks Natsu, it means a lot. I have more in the kitchen and I know once I finish talking you're going to go get more so I ask that you leave me at least one bowl, please?" Lucy basically just begged him not to eat all her food that she was so looking forward to this meal.

With a nod, he was off, like the injuries were nonexistent anymore. "Thanks Luce!" is what followed from the kitchen. She could only laugh.

While Natsu was filling up on her dinner, Lucy decided to clean up the mess in her closet. She walked over to her closet but once she saw the catastrophic reality laid before her, she felt horrible. "All of this fell on top of him…? If he hadn't shielded me I could've been seriously hurt." She felt beyond guilty for the accident she cause. She shouldn't have been so careless.

"Thanks Natsu..." She whispered to herself.

Lucy bent down and started collecting all the papers up first, they were mostly just diary pages her mother had written when she was a young teenager, but Lucy had already read through them about a million times. Layla stopped writing in her diaries shortly after Lucy was born since she didn't have the time with an adventurous rug rat running around and teaching her life lessons and schooling.

After picking up all the papers and setting them aside in a neat pile, next was the photo albums and then the books and the little decorative boxes her mother made that held some old jewelry and prized possessions.

Once everything was put back into the box she dragged it out to her living room. She kind of just wanted to look at the photo albums but might as well take everything since it caused so much trouble in the first place.

Natsu emerged at that moment to see what was now on display. "Is this the stuff that physically assaulted me?" he said jokingly.

Lucy laughed and nodded. "Yeah it's a box of my mother's belongings and some photos."

Natsu squinted. "Oh great. So your mom doesn't like me and planned this all out so I would get beaten, huh? Tryin' to scare me away, well you can tell her I ain't leavin!" he scoffed and crossed his arms.

He was obnoxious but adorable. Lucy smiled "Don't be silly, my mother would've loved you Natsu. Plus, she would be super grateful to you for protecting me all the time." Blushing, she scratched her cheek.

Natsu was now starting to blush as well. "Well gee Luce." He scratched his neck and smiled.

The mood fell once he saw her face fall to a frown. He was about to ask what's wrong but she beat him to the talking. "But again, I am really really sorry, Natsu. It's all my fault, I was careless and didn't mean for you to get hurt like that."

"Lucy, it was just an accident, it wasn't your fault and besides, At least I was there so you didn't get hurt. Knowing if I gotten here any later you could've gotten really hurt and that would've been far more painful to me then these cuts and bruises. You know that." He said this like he had said it before, like he was just reminding her, it touched Lucy deeply, knowing he cared so much about her made her feel not alone, like he was there no matter what. It meant more then he knew to her.

"Thank you Natsu, truly." She smiled at him, with a small blush lightly kissing her cheeks. Which prompted him to blush even brighter, he hid his face before she noticed with his scarf that was around his neck again.

Pushing his mouth into his scarf, he mumbled. "It's whatever…" but suddenly it hit him. His scarf fell from his face and his evil smirk was uncovered.

Lucy's smiled dropped into an 'uh-oh' face. "Oh God. What are you thinking."

He crept a little closer. "Photo albums you say?"

She nodded unknowingly about what he was thinking. "Yeah… and?"

"Baby photos." He replied.

Still confused she furrowed her brow and raised her shoulders, shaking her head in the process.

"Naked baby photos." He replied again. Evilly.

"Hahaha you wish… I don't have any of those." Lucy started to sweat nervously, which means she couldn't hide it from Natsu.

"LIAR!" He pounced at the box and so did Lucy, clashing and fighting over the photo album literally titled 'Baby photos.'

Determined, Lucy kicked at the poor, already injured boy but he felt no pain he was too determined for pain. Holding her back he grabbed it from her gripping arms. She reached high for it but tumbled forward from loss of balance and as punishment, Natsu sat on her while he opened the burgundy colored cover.

"Let's see here…" he started shuffling through the album not really caring about the sentimental ones, he just wanted to have black mail on the poor girl.

She kicked her heels up and flailed her arms. "Come on Natsu, don't do this! Please!" She begged and cried.

He shook his head before he finally found what he was looking for. "Well well well, looky here. Little bitty Lucy naked in a bathtub." He smirked evilly and laughed.

Crying out again, Lucy slammed her face into the ground just a bit too hard giving herself a headache. "Please don't…" She had seen that photo a million times and it's still so embarrassing, she was a chunky baby, about 6 baby fat rings on each arm and cheeks like chipmunks. She swore to never let that photo be seen by another human being, not even plue her most trusted friend.

Slowly, Natsu pulled the photo out, making her anxiety rise faster. Finally, it slid out [insert dirty joke here] "That's odd." Natsu questioned.

This made Lucy offended. "Don't call my baby self Odd! You jerk!" She started flailing again, trying to break loose.

"Lucy chill, I mean this." He brought the photo down to her level and he was right. It was bent in half.

Lucy squinted at the photo and tilted her head. "What the…"

Natsu stood up to let Lucy go. "You didn't know that it was bent? This whole time?" He questioned, curiously.

"No, why would I think to take the photo out in the first place?" She questioned him, a bit with an attitude.

He frowned at her. "I was just asking, Geez." He put his hands up in defense.

Lucy took the paper from him and looked at it closely before finally opening the folded half, her heart started to race. She wasn't prepared for what she was about to see, not in a million years would she have guessed this. Her world was about to flip upside down.

A shaggy, blonde haired boy, smiling brightly at baby Lucy. Bubbles covered his body and a little whipped cream shape on his head. He looked so happy, so full of life. He looked older then Lucy but she wasn't sure. He oddly enough looked a lot like her and her mother...Actually, he looked almost identical to herself and Layla.

"Who is that Lucy? A cousin or something?" Natsu asked, concerned about this strange boy in the bath with baby Lucy.

"I-I don't know." Lucy turned over the paper and the words hit harder than the picture. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head when she took a sharp breath in. Her pale, shaky hand covered her mouth once the words engraved into her forever memory.

Everything had gotten so serious so quick. Natsu couldn't see what it read so he waited anxiously for her to tell him. "Well. Who is it!?" He asked again.

"No way…" Her voice shook a little.

'Bath day with my two beautiful children, Kyle and Lucy Heartfilia- xoxo Layla Heartfilia'

"My brother."

* * *

 **|Well I finished my first chapter of my new story and it was really fun to write. I feel like this story should do better since my writing has progressed some more and it's not stupid like my other stories beginning ahaha… oof.**

 **Anyway, if you guys can also fact check me on some stuff that would help me out! Just message me and I'll correct it right away!**

 **Thanks you so much everyone for reading this first chapter and I hope this story goes far, like I said before, Ill try to continue my old story but I can't lie, I got bored with it. Oof again.**

 **Love you guys as always- Pheebs.|**


	2. Chpt2 Lonely Heart

**|Welcome back guys! Glad you decided to continue with the story, feel free to write reviews so I know if I should continue or change a few things. It helps me out as a writer to get feed back and grow more!**

 **As always, all credits of the Fairy Tail material belongs to Hiro Mashima.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter2: Lonely Heart|**

* * *

The morning rain awoke Lucy the next morning with the loud winds blowing harshly at her windows. It was dark and gloomy, not a very up-bringing day to follow from the night before.

Bolts of lightning lit up her room, shadows of trees plastering over her comforter. She pulled her knees close to her chest and nuzzled into her covers. "Nothing like rain to make a cold October day even colder." Lucy groaned, recalling the events last night made her contemplate if she even wanted to get out of bed that morning. She groaned again, pulling the sheets up around her head shielding her shame from the world.

* * *

 _Natsu paced the room, he scratched his head in confusion. "So you're tellin me, you have a brother that your parents hid from you!? This is some messed up shit, Luce." He didn't mean to come off unsympathetic, but he was beyond stunned that words just seemed to come out without filter._

 _Covering her face, Lucy started shaking her leg with anxiety. "That's what the picture says and indicates, so yeah? I don't know... I'm so confused." Her headache started becoming worse from the thoughts flooding in. Her parents lied to her about family, she was always told she was an only child but they lied... but for what reason? There had to be a reason... just had to be._

 _Thinking the same thing, Natsu spoke up again, not satisfied with the answer he was given. "So like, did he run away or like die-"_

 _"Sorry..." he responded quickly and apologetically._

 _Lucy shook her head. "No, It's okay... There must be some reason they never told me about him. Maybe he did die, and the pain of losing a child was to unbearable for them to talk about again." To her that was the most reasonable answer, she didn't want to make her parents out to be horrible people._

 _Clearly Disagreeing, Natsu shook his head. "Hell no! If they had a son, your brother, they should've told you. You deserve to know who your brother is and what happened to him. What they did was wrong and a down right horrible thing to do." Anger was boiling up in Natsu, it made him beyond pissed off. He scratched his forehead, he was starting to get a irritating headache from all the pent up energy._

 _Shocked at his words, Lucy found major offense towards his statement. She shot up onto her feet despite the pain from her cut leg. "Are you calling my parents horrible people!? They obviously had a reason, and probably a good one, like I said, the thought of him might've been too unbearable!" she couldn't believe he would think her parents would do this to spite her._

 _Standing his ground, Natsu fought back. "No Lucy! Even if it hurt, hurt like hell, if you love your children you would tell them that they had a damn sibling who went missing or something, you don't keep secrets from family!" This was touching home for Natsu. Igneel disappearing and keeping Natsu's identity a secret hurt him badly. He wished he'd know about everything and not have to find out the hard way. This is why he was angry, family lying wasn't something he took kindly too._

 _"Like you? Like how you left me a little over a year ago?" Lucy's breathing became erratic. She was finding it harder and harder to speak because of the hicks in her throat and the heavy weight forming in her chest. The tears of anger were starting to threaten her eyes._

 _Natsu was taken aback. "What do you mean 'like you' what the hell did I do!?" he took a step forward, but she took two steps back. Natsu's face fell. Seeing her back away from him like that hurt but he felt such a weird pain that he's never experienced. It wasn't like she was scared of him but just the gesture in of itself felt wrong in so many ways._

 _He even felt a little offended. Sniffing his underarm, he questioned her. "Hey why are you backing away? Do I smell or something!?" Trying to make a joke out of the situation probably wasn't the best idea. Lucy was far from being in the mood for jokes._

 _Clenching her fists and holding back the tears she yelled it out loud so he would understand every word that came out. "You got up and left, leaving me behind like I was useless baggage with a god damn note. You left, not saying goodbye to my face and just disappeared, it was like you couldn't care less about my feelings and only thought about yourself. For god's sake you didn't even send me letters or a damn post card letting me know where you were or even if you were okay! I cried every night thinking I would NEVER see you again, you could've died but I would never know because you didn't care to tell me a damn thing! You. Left. Me...All alone."_

 _After realizing what she had said, she jerked back and covered her mouth. She didn't know why she turned this around to their past but she did, and now she was angry with herself, and very embarrassed. The tears had already made their way down her face, leaving stains along the way._

 _Her heart racing she stood silent and still, tears still making their way. Before another word could be said, Lucy raced out of the room and into the bathroom. Shutting and locking the door behind her. Heart pounding she leaned against the door, hand still covering her mouth, mostly in shock from what came out of it._

 _She had wanted to say how she felt about Natsu leaving for the longest time but never knew how to express it or even how to bring it up in a conversation. She was so emotional and in the moment, it just came pouring out. It was definitely not how she wanted that conversation to go down, but it did and there was no turning back or taking back what she said because it was all true every word, every feeling she had, was all true but that didn't stop her from feeling horrible for springing this on him so suddenly and in the middle of another far more important moment._

 _Covering her face, she cried into her palms and slid down the closed door. Once her butt hit the floor, she looked up to the heaven's and gripped her knees "Mom, I'm so confused." closing her eyes tightly in defeat, her face turned to the floor, forehead using her arms for support. She felt like utter despair. In this moment she felt like a wreck of emotions._

 _Natsu just stood there. He had registered every word Lucy had said, she was very clear and forward about her feelings and it just took him by surprise and was in a little bit of a shock._ _After taking a moment of 'what the hell just happened' he ran towards her bathroom door he was about ready to barge in until he heard the echoing of Lucy's cries._

 _In that moment, Natsu's soul crumbled. Hearing her crying like that, was utter agony of pure torture. Especially knowing it was his doing. He didn't mean to hurt her, he never ever means to hurt her. Natsu lowered himself to his knees and put his hand and face close to the door so she could hear him. "Hey Luce..."_

 _Lucy sniffled and looked up from the ground. "Just go home, please.." Her voice faded before she finished her sentence. Her hicks taking over once again, her chest tight with pain._

 _Natsu's heart shattered, hearing her shaky voice and smelling her salty tears pouring out just made him feel like the biggest ass on the planet to ever live._

 _Putting his forehead against the door, he lightly banged it while clenching his fist. It took every bone, every muscle in his body not to break down that bathroom door grab her into a tight embrace and apologize profusely and beg her for forgiveness._

 _Instead, he just held his head low, stood to his feet and walked away. Under his breath he apologized. "I'm so sorry Luce..." before leaving her apartment._

 _Natsu understood she needed time alone to process the whole thing and so did he. There was a lot that came out that night and they had their fair share of late night contemplation for the next week._

* * *

Lucy uncovered herself from her comforter. It was decided, she would go and talk to Natsu later that evening. She knew he was just as upset as she was. Emotions were still high but the longer she put it off, the longer their relationship would be strained.

Groaning, Lucy forced herself to leave her warm bed. Shivers flew up and down her spine, her arm hair sticking straight up from the sudden jolt of cold from the hardwood floors. She picked up her feet off the ground and started rubbing them with her warm hands, before moaning to herself. "I need to invest in a heater, and maybe a pair of slippers to go with it." she signed before standing up again, baring with the harsh cold.

The floors creaked as Lucy walked over to her desk to look for her wallet, she was praying for enough money to buy at least a new pair of slippers for her poor feet. She shuffled through her belongings and during so, Lucy noticed how much of a mess her desk was. Papers everywhere, trash can over flowing, and Mavis knows what is hiding beneath it all.

She frowned, "May as well just tidy up just a little. Shouldn't take more then a few minutes." Oh was she dearly mistaken. Lucy didn't know how she began her great fall cleaning but she forgot all about what she was going to do that day. Without even realizing it, a small cleanup of a desk turned into digging out all her cleaning supplies and scrubbing every tile crease, every corner, and every shelf in her kitchen and bathroom. Lucy was so caught up in her cleaning, she even forgot to change her clothes and brush her teeth. She was subconsciously trying to forget all that had happened in the last 18 hours and escape her reality. Cleaning, even though stressful, made her focus on something other than her problems.

Hours had past since she had started cleaning early that morning. It was now 5pm in the afternoon and the storm was still brewing something fierce. Windy rain slashed against the windows, threatening to shatter the glass with each impact. Cold wind seeped through the her closed window which Lucy would have to unwillingly bring up to her landlady.

"Well I'd rather have a lecture about how I somehow "cause" the cracks between the damn window and the building then pay an extra 1000 jewel or so a month for a crappy heater that i swear doesn't even work!" She rolled her eyes and sulked at all the crap going on, even her apartment was out to ruin her day.

Snapping back from her moment, Lucy looked around her room, satisfied with the work she had accomplished. "Well I think I deserve a break for now." She had a small smile plastered on her face, but it quickly faded. Lucy realized it was time to step up and go talk to Natsu. But for some reason she felt nervous and quiet frankly a little scared to face him after last night. She felt ashamed of herself and a little betrayed by his remarks he made towards her family, but it was only right and fair to him and to herself to actually sit and talk with each other. Face to face this time.

"First things first." She remarked to herself. "To clean myself up this time and not be sidetracked... what time is it anyway?" Looking around, she rushed over to her end table and picked up her alarm clock.

Silence.

"FIVE O'CLOCK!?" Projecting her voice rather loudly, she rushed and stumbled to her bathroom. Grabbing whatever clothes was closest. Not caring if they went together or not, she just needed to move. To be honest, she wouldn't be surprised if Natsu was back at home by now.

A loud banging and a drunk'in voice appeared."HEY LADY. SHUT UP ALREADY." Mr. Issac, Lucy's neighbor, was back at it again with his rude behavior.

Not in the mood, Lucy stomped over to the wall and gritted her teeth. She spoke in a low, angry growl. "How about you tell that to your girlfriend and stop being a damn hypocrite. The whole town can hear you guys going at it like bunnies so how about you shut your god damn mouth you ass."

Without even waiting for another one of his drunk'in comments, Lucy was out the door, rushing down the rainy streets of magnolia, her umbrella shielding her body best it could from the harsh windy-rain that stung her with each movement. Natsu's house was about a 15 minute walk but at her pace, she'll get there in 7 tops. The guild only being 20 from his house.

* * *

The guild was unusually quiet this evening, nobody seemed to be in the mood to fight. Not even the great Dragon Slayer himself, Natsu.

Mira found that more then a little disturbing to be honest. "Is everything alright, Natsu? You seem to be not yourself."

With a groan he put his arms crossed on the table and buried his face into them. Sobbing like an idiot. Moaning something about Lucy but Mira couldn't quiet register what he was saying.

That's what Happy was there for. "Natsu made Lucy aaaaangry last night." He covered his mouth to suspend the laugh that crept up on him. Happy was the biggest snitch on the planet, no doubt.

Raising a suspicious eyebrow, Erza entered her way into the conversation after overhearing. "How and why did Natsu make Lucy angry, hmm?" Erza didn't come off very pleased knowing Natsu hurt Lucy's feelings.

"Lucy probably gave him another ass kicking and a good scolding because I guarantee he ate all her food, messed up her apartment and then walked in on her naked... again." Gray intervened.

Natsu didn't say a word and only groaned louder.

Happy again slipped in since he got all the juicy details the night of. "Well, Lucy apparently fell and got hurt because she's clumsy and tried to pick up a heavy box from the top shelf of her closet and now has this really ugly cut on her leg but Natsu jumped in and saved her from any really heavy damaged so now he has a bunch of cuts and bruises but then afterwards, while they were digging through the box of stuff later, they found a picture of Lucy and apparently she has a br- " before he could finish, Natsu slammed his hand against Happy's mouth, tightly and looked him dead in the eyes, shaking his head. Meaning Happy better shut his mouth right this minute.

Everyone was a taken a bit back by the sudden outburst of the Dragon Slayer but that wasn't what they really cared about. It was knowing Lucy got hurt is what concerned them more.

"Oh dear!" Mira placed her hand over her mouth.

"Hey man, is Lucy okay!?" Gray questioned worryingly.

Everyone awaited for Natsu to answer. Erza ready to beat it out of him if he took any longer to answer.

Natsu waved his hands in front of everyone and smiled anxiously. "Oh yeah, she's fine don't worry. Just a little cut on her leg, she cleaned it up!" Scratching the back of his head, he looked away, sweating from the glaring blades Erza was sending him.

"Natsu." Erza lowered her voice.

He gulped nervously. "Y-yes ma'am?" He dared made eye contact.

She took a step forward. "Why is Lucy angry with you." Furrowing her brow she got in his face. Her eyes demanding an answer.

Sweat was just water falling down his face. "R-right, well." He took a deep breath before answering in a rush. "I just ate all her food again like usual, an then I accidentally knocked a picture of Lucy's mom over and shattered the glass I swear it was an accident I would never do that on purpose but it didn't sit to well with her ya know? Then she kicked me out and yelled at me loudly, it was really embarrassing since a lot of people heard and saw." He laughed nervously as sweat covered his entire body. He just lied to Titania Erza, Pray to Mavis she doesn't find out. Though, it was a conceivable cover story from Happy's almost slip of personal information.

Gray shook his head and rubbed his forehead. "You Moron, how could you be such an idiot and knock something over as precious as a picture of her Mother!? You ask me you deserved a beating rather then a little embarrassment, yeesh." He rolled his eyes.

Natsu jumped up from his chair and shook his fist, "Well nobody was askin ice pop! Besides, it was a damn accident!" They slammed foreheads together, grabbing each other's shirts in the process ready to start a good fight before Erza stepped in.

Grabbing both by their hair, she slammed there heads together and threw them onto bar stools to weep in pain. "Can't you guys go one conversation without fighting and breaking everything around you. The both of you are getting on my damn nerves." Erza sat down in frustration.

Heads spinning. "Yes Ma'am!" Gray and Natsu responded in sync.

She took her seat and crossed her legs. "I do agree with Gray, Natsu. You need to be careful and respectful to Lucy. You cause her so much grief every time you destroy her personal property."

That made Natsu feel like even more crap hearing her say that he caused Lucy grief. He signed and put his head back on the bar to sulk.

Happy stood up suddenly, catching the attention of everyone in the room. "Hey look you guys! Lucy is here!" He jumped up and down, laughing ecstatically before flying over and hugging her tightly around the side of her cheek. Lucy gave him a sweet smile and patted his head.

Natsu jerked his head up. He didn't even know she was there, probably because of the killer headache that erupted from his brain that his senses just abandoned him. He blinked quickly and rubbed his eyes to rid of his dizziness, he was seeing about three Lucy's and that wasn't helping his headache but he was relived to see her.

Lucy turned her attention to her friends and smiled softly, waving to the group. "Hey guys." Her smile grew bigger, she was happy to see her friends. It was really refreshing.

Her eyes drifted and caught onto the pair of onyx eyes looking right at her. His face looked apologetic and it hurt her a little inside to see him looks so down compared to his usually bright and smiley self.

Their eyes continued to lock, and it wasn't going unnoticed. Gray took it upon himself to intervened their little stare off that was getting quiet uncomfortable for everyone else. "Soo, what've you been up to today Lucy? Like, How is your leg?"

Breaking eye contact, she turned to Gray. "Oh, um, I just cleaned up my apartment a little. It was starting to get stuffy and nasty. But my leg is doing just fine, thanks for asking." Lucy scratched her head and giggled in embarrassment. She figured they knew about her accident but not if they knew her family secret.

It worried her, she didn't want to keep things from them. However, she wanted to get her thoughts together and as much info as possible before telling people.

Erza walked up and crossed her arms. Curiously, she asked, "What brings you here so late in the evening?"

"Yeah Lucy, it's almost 6o'clock?" Mira interjected.

Shuffling her hands, she looked away from Erza and back at her best friend. "Well... I came to see Natsu, I stopped at his place but he clearly wasn't home, so I looked here and well, yeah here he is." She smiled at the Dragon Slayer, giving the man a glimpse of hope and relief.

A smile as big and bright as the sun plastered his face like an idiot. "You where looking for me?"

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, I wanted to ask you if we could talk. Whenever is most convenient for you of course! We got off on the wrong foot, and I said some things without thinking through. I would like to explain and have a civil conversation with you and..." she paused and looked at everyone in the room before continuing. "-apologize for what happened."

Everyone was confused about the whole situation but kept quiet. Listening in on their ordeal.

Gray scratched his head. "Why would you have to apologize? Natsu's the one who broke your moth-"

"I'm free to talk now!" Natsu interrupted as he stood from the bar stool.

With a nod, Lucy walked to the infirmary. An eager Fire Dragon close at her heels, closing the door once he entered.

They each sat on a bed, facing each other. It was more then a little awkward, they both felt guilty and embarrassed about the previous night. Mostly Lucy however, she felt ashamed by her lack of integrity and maturity, even if it was Natsu in her presence. She shuffled her fingers together and looked everywhere but the man who sat in front of her.

She was about to voice her apology but Natsu beat her to it. "I'm sorry Luce, for hurting you and your family like that. I know they're good people by the way you talk about them." Her eyes snapped to his face, he look like he just saw a dead puppy. A frown plastered his face, his eyes refusing to look into hers.

"Natsu I-"Trying to find her words was a bit of a confusion. Her head filled with a thousands things to say but not one would leave her tongue. She was a bit blindsided to his apology, she honestly felt she was the one who should apologize for being so dramatic and overbearing.

His eyes finally met hers. They where filled with regret and sorrow, he was truly sorry for what he had done, even if she felt she was mostly to blame. It pulled at her heart strings. Natsu's pure nature was caring and love for the people around him, so when he believes he hurt someone close like that, he's sure to put all the blame upon himself. It was actually very sweet that he cared so much about what had happened. It was a little too mature for Natsu but then again, the way he is at the moments like these, Natsu knows when to straighten up and say or do something meaningful.

Taking a deep breath, Lucy built up her courage and spoke softly. "No, I'm sorry, Natsu. It wasn't right of me to bash you for your opinions and own emotions and then throw my feelings from the past into your face out of nowhere and then storm off and slam a door in your face..." Lucy exhaled and leaned forward. It was a relief she finally got her apology out.

To her surprise, Lucy heard little spurts of giggles. When she looked up, Natsu's cheeks were inflated and he was covering his mouth to suspend the laughter creeping up on his features. Removing his hands, he grabbed his stomach and started laughing.

What in the hell was so funny to him? She just made an apology and so did he and now he's laughing like it was some big joke. It really started to push Lucy's buttons. With an irritated sign, she stood up quickly and harshly from the bed causing it to screech against the wood floor. She looked down at the now surprised but still laughter-flush faced Dragon slayer. She gave him a narrowed glance and proceeded to stomp off. She felt like a fool, a damn fool.

First, she poured her emotions out to him the night before. Then, she built up the courage to find him and even apologize to only have him laugh at her. It was the most insensitive thing he could've done in that moment. Humility tears threatened her, with everything that was going on her emotions were at their prime, just waiting for a simple thing to happen so she could erupt into a fit of anger.

Lucy reached for the door handle of the infirmary but was met with a warm hand that beat her to it. They stood there for a good few seconds. Natsu lingered very closely over her, she could practically feel his breath on her shoulder, let alone the immense heat radiating off him. It sent a shiver down her spine from the sudden warmth and oddly, a comfort his close presence had.

Natsu finally broke silence. "I wasn't giggling because I was laughing at you or the situation."

The hand that was blocking her path slowly grabbed at her shoulder and encouraged her to face him, which she complied but refused eye contact.

Lucy rested her hand on her forearm and looked at anything but the man standing before her. Her cheeks flushed a soft pink, she couldn't help the light embarrassment and tension that lingered between their very close bodies. You could almost hear each other's heartbeats which was mostly true for Natsu.

Closing her eyes, she took a minute before finally locking eyes with the Dragon Slayer once again, she burrowed her brow while her lip twitched. They threatened to say some nasty words but she reconciled to a softer tone. "Then why the hell were you laughing, It was the most inappropriate thing to do in this situation, moron." Lucy was less then happy with how their 'conversation' was going but there was this strange feeling towards how he stopped her and how close they were, physically. Though, she ignored and brushed it off to nothing.

Natsu removed his hand from her shoulder and ruffled his hair, he placed the other on his hip and smiled guiltily. "Well because you apologized for something stupid." He laughed innocently.

"...W-what?" She raised her eyebrow and stood there in complete confusion.

He closed his eyes and smiled brightly towards her. "Lucy you don't need to apologize, I mean, I know we both said some stuff we didn't mean but I was out of line for contradicting your mother like that, and you!" Laughing nervously this time, sweat began to drip, hoping his honesty wouldn't make her mad again.

Well she wasn't mad, but she didn't look happy either.

Lucy averted her eyes. Embarrassment once again making a comeback."Natsu. I meant every word I said about the past. I said how I was really feeling, maybe not in the best way or the right moment but you know, my emotions where just everywhere and I couldn't stop-"

"You think I see you as useless baggage...?" His heart dropped like a rock to the pit of his stomach when he recalled the words she described from the night before. They had never left his train of thought since then. He even stumbled back a bit from the shock he was experiencing.

She nodded.

Cuffing her fists, she raised her head sharply, ready to say another thing but the next thing she knew, two big, warm arms wrapped tightly around her whole body. Lucy could feel his tense body tighten with every breath, like he was holding something back.

Natsu had buried his face against her shoulder. His teeth clenched tightly before he could udder the words he wanted to say. "Lucy. Don't ever say that to me again. Don't you dare, ever again, say you're useless baggage, or anything horrible like that about yourself and then say that's how I feel and think about you because you have never been so ignorant in your life."

He pulled back and looked her in the eyes before continuing.

"You mean more to me then life itself, you make me happy and make me strive to be a better person. You trust and care about me because of who I am, you've never given me a reason to resent or to hate you. I've grown and loved more, because of you. I never meant to hurt or make you think the way that you have, I was only trying to protect you, you have to believe me."

Lucy was in a state of awe over his words. Not knowing what to do or say but it didn't matter since he wasn't finish talking.

"I was an idiot to think it was okay to leave you with a mere note and then never say a word till I came back. That was a selfish move on my part, It had nothing against you. I swear on my life. I would never, and will never think of you of any less then the precious human being that you are. Believe me when I say, I won't ever do that again. I will never leave you like that again, not ever. Do you understand me!?" He grabbed her shoulders with a look of desperation. His eyes searched aggressively into hers for an answer.

All she could do was cry, with all the crying she had done already she didn't know she had way more to give. With an sharp nod, she covered her face. She was now ashamed of herself that she thought those ridiculously things. Of course, Natsu would never perceive her as 'useless garbage' or somebody he didn't care much about. She was the biggest ignorant dumbass on the planet. She knew better, he was the most caring and loving person this world has to offer and he was her Best Friend the person she loved the most. Someone she owed her life to.

Lucy was never alone, and she was never forgotten. Natsu would always keep her in his heart and on his mind till the day he died. It meant more to her then anything else, he truly loved her for who she was like how she loved him.

Uncovering her face she looked up at him with giant teary eyes. "I caused a big mess, now haven't I?" She broke into a small sniffle war with herself while wiping the tears from her eyes.

Now this was amusing and funny to Natsu. "Na, you were just being a werido, per-usual" he smiled and patted her arm.

Lucy laughed and nodded with agreement. "I think we, more so I, take a moment to relax. We can talk about this another time when there isn't a million other things on my mind."

Natsu nodded, "Yeah we have a mystery Heartfilia to worry about now. God knows how much trouble he's gotten into if he's anything related to you." With a teasing smirk he was returned with a friendly punch to the shoulder.

"Hey now, no need to get physical!" He rubbed his arm pretending like it hurt.

Rolling her eyes with a smile. Lucy opened the door. "Yeah Yeah, let's go get some dinner, I haven't eaten all day. I could eat a horse!" she remarked, rubbing her tummy as it growled in sync.

As they left the infirmary, it suddenly hit Natsu. "Wait. Isn't one of your spirits a horse!? Lucy Heartfilia, do you eat your own friends!" He covered his mouth in shock.

Lucy turned and faced Natsu. "Uh, first of all, He's a man in a horse costume. Secondly, It was an expression." She turned to proceed to their destination.

"Whatever you say, horse eater." Natsu shrugged and walk past her.

Caught off guard she rushed after him. "I am not a horse eater nor a friend eater! I would never!" Lucy stomped, annoyed with his teasing. She can never get away from it.

Mira looked over and smiled while cleaning a glass. Watching the two tease each other endlessly was more then a little amusing. "Looks like they had a good talk! I'm glad. Natsu seemed really upset earlier." She remarked towards Erza who was busy reading a novel and eating a strawberry cake.

Erza nodded as she took a bite from her strawberry cake, she had noticed them teasing as well. It made her unusually happy to see them together. "Me too, it's weird seeing those two not enjoying themselves when they're together. Glad all seems well now."

Gray had noticed the other two coming out of the infirmary with smiles on their faces. "Hey Happy, looks like we can join them now. They look to be in better moods then before."

Happy giggled and covered his mouth. "Maybe they were kissing."

All Gray could do in response was roll his eyes and shrug. "Well let's go, I've got nothing better to do."

With an energetic "Aye Sir!" both Happy and Gray rushed after their friends.

In the distance you could hear the bickering/teasing still going on, this time Gray joining in, also calling Lucy a horse eater and Happy then crying thinking she would eat him next. Which both of them were greeted with slaps to the back of the head by the unamused celestial wizard.

Mira's face melted to a small frown. "Erza." she placed the mug she was cleaning down on the counter, still watching the others make a run for it through the guild doors and out into the pouring rain.

"Yea?" Erza replied, looking up from her novel.

Mira thought for a moment before shaking her head. She felt something wasn't quiet right but she brushed it off assuming it wasn't important and that it was just her imagination. "Nevermind, It's not important." With a smile, she left the bar to carry on her work in the back. Leaving Titania confused and alone to eat her cheesecake and finish her book.

Erza shrugged before grabbing her belongings and saying goodbye to the few remaining late night drinkers. She made her way back to Fairy Hills for the night. In the morning she would be heading out on a solo mission so she needed a good night's rest.

* * *

The day ended with the gang full of great food and a few board games under their belt before passing out in Lucy's now dirty apartment for the night. The boys refused to leave since it was "too late" and raining. Gray also complained his stomach hurt too much to walk but not enough to down a few more plates of food and Natsu just down right not wanting to leave.

They all settled into their assigned sleeping stations. Lucy got her bed back by pushing Natsu off and making him sleep on the cold floor with nothing but a pillow, blanket and a stinky, wet Happy. Gray took refuge on the couch, half naked and unfazed by the harsh cold her apartment had to offer.

Lucy stared up at the ceiling. For the life of her, she just couldn't fall asleep.

Neither was Gray, he made that clear by constantly moving around which was one of the reasons Lucy couldn't fall asleep.

He looked over to see her laying perfectly still, eyes wide awake. "Lucy, I hope you are awake and not sleeping with your eyes open." He had a concerned look on his face not that Lucy could see that.

Lucy giggled. "Na, I'm awake."

"Can't sleep?"

"Not really, no."

Gray sat up from the couch and looked at her. "What's up? Everything alright?"

Lucy shuffled and sat up as well. She took a while to answer but she had this feeling of needing to tell someone and she trusted Gray. He was like a brother to her, funny enough. Even though Natsu was her best friend, Gray was a little easier to talk to since he was more mature and understood things better then Natsu did at times. It helped that he can catch the mood of things and wasn't as dense.

"No... Nothing is alright." Her voiced cracked as she struggled to hold back the endless amount of tears she somehow had. She felt like the biggest cry baby. Where she got the juice for these tears, she had no idea.

Stunned about the sudden shift in emotion. Gray quickly got up and rushed over to her, careful not to step on Natsu and wake him up.

He sat on the edge of her bed and gave her a sympathetic look. "Lucy, what really happened last night?" His foot ready to smack Natsu in the face depending on what she said next.

Lucy took a deep breath and exhaled sharply. "You have to promise me you won't tell anyone else. Natsu and I'm guessing Happy already know. I don't have all the information as I just found out last night so please don't ask a lot of questions because I simply don't know."

Crossing his legs, Gray nodded. "Yeah just tell me already."

With a quick nod, she closed her eyes. "I have a brother. Like an actual biological, my mother gave birth to him, brother." She kept her eyes shut, not wanting to see his face.

It had to be a minute that passed and still not a word from Gray. Lucy decided to take a quick peek only to find the ice wizard, frozen in shock and confusion. His mind couldn't even comprehend what she just said.

"Gray...Graaaay?" Lucy whispered, waving her hand in front of his face.

He snapped back to reality and stared at her. "You have a brother!?" He yelled before covering his mouth quickly. He bent over and looked to see if he had woken anybody up. Luckily, he didn't. He signed in relief.

Lucy put a finger to her mouth and furrowed her brow to indicate to be quiet. She continued, "Apparently, yeah."

"What happened to him?"

"I don't know, I never met him nor even knew about him."

"Well, how old is he?"

"I don't know for sure."

"Did he run away?"

"I don't know."

"Is he still alive?"

"Gray..."

"Do you know where he is?"

"Gray."

"Is he a mage to, like apart of a guild maybe?"

"GRAY!" Lucy finally yelled at him, indicating for him to shut up.

Natsu didn't even budge, he never responded to anything involving Gray.

Gray flinched back. "Oh... sorry, forgot. No questions." He scratched his neck and smiled innocently.

Lucy waved her hands at him. "It's alright, I get the questions. I just really don't know anything." with a frown, she started fiddling with her fingers.

It had gotten a little awkward after that. Gray didn't know what to say. What could he say? 'Hey, I'm sorry your brother died or something. My condolences?' Though, now he knew why Natsu was sulking earlier. Gray figured he said something dumb and insensitive and probably made Lucy cry. Which he guessed right.

He finally broke the silence. "How did you find out?"

Lucy leaned over and grabbed the picture from inside a book. She didn't want to leave it out in the open for anyone to see and the only person who would dare touch a book would be Levy but she had left for a job early this morning, so it was the safest place to hide it.

Handing the photo to Gray she pointed to the back. "Read the back once you finish staring at naked baby Me and my naked baby brother." she teased which got an unamused face in return.

Flipping the photo over, Gray quickly read the back before looking back at the picture. "Damn. That's crazy Lucy. What are you going to do?"

She shrugged. "I really have no idea and I'm still a little freaked out but I was thinking of going to Master and see if he can help me find out what happened. Who knows, if Kyle is still alive, we could be going on a really crazy adventure to find my long lost brother. Sounds fun, right?" She anxiously laughed. It wasn't a solid plan but it was the best she had.

Gray raised an eyebrow. "Um, we?"

Frowning, Lucy nodded. "Yes 'we'. Natsu is definitely already tagging along so Happy will to and I guarantee Erza will find her way in, and honestly, Gray. You're just slightly more sane then them and reasonable. So yes, we. We're a team through thick and thin and this is the thick."

With a deep breath, Gray smiled. "Yeah, you're right. _WE_ can go talk to Gramps tomorrow but you gotta get some sleep first, alright?"

Lucy returned the gesture and smiled back. "Sounds good. Sleep well, Gray."

He stood from her bed. "You too, Lucy." With a final smile, he made his way back to his assigned 'bed' and flopped down. With a satisfied sign, he closed his eyes.

Lucy felt more at ease after talking about her situation and having someone listen. It made things feel a little lighter on her shoulders. She had her two very best friends holding her up and helping her with each step she took, baring the weight on her shoulders and climbing through ditches and thorns with her.

 _"How did I get so lucky?"_ Lucy thought to herself before sleep finally overcame her swollen eyes and tired mind.

The rain had finally cleared and the moon came out full and bright. The once ugly morning, turned into a beautiful autumn night.

* * *

 **|I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! It's quiet long and hopefully I can keep up the pace. It's really fun writing these long chapters but a bitch to reread and edit but it's whatever.**

 **As always, love you all and thank you for reading my story!**

 **Cya guys!**


	3. Chpt3 Lucy Of Fairy Tail

**|ATTENTION- CHANGED USERNAME I was 'NatsuBagelz' Now I'm "NatsuKiwi" Kiwi is my nickname, so yeah lol.**

 **AN: Welcome back you guys! Hope you all enjoyed the last chapter, It was long and I liked it ahahah.**

 **As usual, Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter Three: Lucy of Fairy Tail|**

* * *

The sun peeked over the corresponding buildings across the river and beamed through the quiet apartment curtains, golden rays plastering upon Lucy's delicate features and golden locks. Despite being in late October weather, the sun rays felt warm like a blanket of sunshine covering her body.

It was the sound of a horse pulled carriage rushing through the cobblestone streets of magnolia, colliding with puddles that woke Lucy from her deep slumber.

Lucy moaned as she stretched her aching bones, soaking every ounce of sunshine the morning rays had to offer. With a quick rub of the eyes, she turned towards the boys who lay in a sleeping state, sprawled out without a care in the world not hiding a single thing from the world, if you catch the drift.

Quietly, Lucy uncovered herself from her warm bed and placed her feet carefully on the floor so she wouldn't step or wake the snoring Dragon Slayer who laid before her. She had this weird feeling of wanting to be nice this morning which was quite rare. Lucy was usually cranky in the morning, especially if she had company. Scratch that, when she had the dumbass brothers over.

With a quick swift she jumped over her floor friends and crept towards her kitchen, weaving in and out of furniture, very careful not to knock or bump anything that would wake anyone.

Lucy closed the curtain to her kitchen and breathed a sign of relief, thankfully she made it without making a peep. Or so she thought.

She felt a tug at her pant leg. "Hm?" Looking down, she was met with a fluffy, blue, round head.

"Morning Lucy." Happy smiled up at her.

Taken aback for a second. Lucy snapped back and returned the smile. "Oh, good morning. Did I wake you?" She questioned.

With a shake of the head, Happy flew up onto the nearby counter. "No, I just smelled fish but it must've been your breath." He covered his mouth to suspend his laughter. Happy honestly thought he was the funniest comedian sometimes.

Lucy cuffed her fists and laid a hard one on his little head, causing him to face plant the counter from the hard impact. With a swift twirl on her heels, she turned towards the fridge and started rummaging through it.

With a moan, Happy complained how she was a big meany and a crank monster in the morning and that he was only joking. He cocked his head to the side once he noticed that she wasn't even listening to him. Standing to his feet he waddled over and peeked from the side into her fridge. "Watcha making? Is it a juicy fish!?" His face brightened up, hoping she would say yes and make it up to him for being mean.

Nope, Lucy shook her head before grabbing a few cold ingredients. "I thought I would make the boys some breakfast this morning. Eggs and pancakes-"

Though Happy was disappointed about the no fish, he was quite excited for the feast that was in the making. "Oh wow Lucy, I didn't know you could cook. From what I remember, last time you cooked you nearly burned the place down and Natsu wasn't even apart of it!" He laughed recalling the past events deserving him a good stern look from a displeased Lucy.

Turning her attention back to the fridge, Happy was met with a disappointed sign from his busty friend. "What's wrong Lucy, got a stick up your butt?" He asked, rather seriously.

She ignored his comment. "Worse. No bacon." She signed again before opening the freezer door.

Happy's world was crumbling. "First I was awakened by the false fish breath and now no bacon! This is the worst morning ever." He sulked and wept, saying something about it being the end of the world.

Lucy's eyes began to sparkle, she turned with a proud smirk on her face. "I got sausages. It's not the same but we got meat!" She smiled brightly, throwing a none-stick pan on the oven, ready to fire it up.

With joy pulsing through his body, Happy jumped up and fist bumped the air. "Praise Mavis!" He hovered by Lucy's shoulder before plopping on top of it. "Hey can I help?" He made eye contact and puppy eyes, go figure. He really wanted to help and make sure she didn't burn those precious sausages.

With a quick nod, Lucy handed him the spatula before getting to work on the pancake mix. Both determined to make a good breakfast they put their heart and soul into. What turned into a nice gesture for the boys turned into a selfish desire to stuff their faces till their bellies exploded.

Natsu shot straight up, his mouth watering from the unbelievably amazing smells coming from across the room. "Yo, what smells so good!?" Jumping to his feet he turned to find Lucy and Happy placing plates of food on the square dinning table. He was greeted with two big smiles.

Flying up to the waking Dragon Slayer, Happy grabbed his cheeks with his paws and pulled gently. "Hey Natsu, me and Lucy made you guys breakfast!" He flew backwards, leading Natsu to the table.

Gray was quick to wake up from all the commotion as well as smelling the sweet smell of Blueberry chocolate chip Pancakes. With a quick wave and good morning, he took a seat. He rubbed his neck and groaned from the cramp he received from the small couch. "You made us breakfast?" He looked up at Lucy, one eye squeezing shut as the other squinting from the sun that glowed behind her.

With a smile, Lucy placed an empty plate in front of them. "Well, we were just going to eat it all ourselves but then you guys had to wake up and ruin it for us." She teased. Gray mimicked her in returned, not amused by her early morning bad comedy routine.

Natsu couldn't care less about her teasing. His eyes sparkled like stars from seeing all the glorious food that laid before him. "This looks amazing, Luce! Thanks a million!" He locked eyes with her and gave a big toothy grin. He held his fork and knife tight in his hands, resting them bottom down, ready to dig into the mountains of food his best friends made for him.

Lucy blushed from his comment, it was nice being appreciated for her kindness, maybe she would do it more. For the sake of her own ego since the constant teasing can get a bit much sometimes, so a change in attitude can be refreshing, especially from Natsu. "No problem, Natsu." She finally managed to say.

Gray smirked, seeing the way she blushed was so tempting to tease but he decided not to be kicked out before he could fill his stomach. He subdued his laughter as he reached for some of the pancakes, luckily his muffled laugh went unnoticed even by the Great Dragon Slayer himself or maybe he just didn't care what Gray was thinking about.

Sliding her chair back, Lucy plopped herself into place at the dining table. Moaning quietly as all the sweet and buttery smells made their way into her nose. Mouth watering when her eyes laid upon the sizzling sausage.

The clock ticked, and everything went quiet. Almost like slow motion Lucy leaped from her chair and grabbed Natsu's forearm, suspending his hand from grabbing carelessly at the morning spread.

Natsu looked up at her. Eyes confused, and mouth gapped, shocked from her sudden action. "Hey, what's the deal?" His brow furrowed, offended at her actions of stopping him. Her grip was light but stern. Commanding him to halt abruptly in his movements.

Lucy shook her head and furrowed her brow at him. Eyes stern, lips in a straight line. "Let everyone else get some first before you go and swallow everything without even chewing. Kapeesh?" A brow lifting in question.

Rolling his eyes. Natsu nodded and signed. Dropping his hands with a thud against the dining table. Cups rattling from the violent vibration. "Fiinne…" He propped his elbow up and held his cheek as he waiting impatiently for everyone else.

Gray erupted into a laughter. Giving Natsu a smirk. "Wow, you just got scolded like a little kid." He placed his right hand over his chest, Chortling exaggeratingly.

Before he could say another word, A fist came flying down upon Gray's head. Causing him to sink low into his chair from the intense pressure. "HEY!" Gray sat up and slammed his fist against the table.

Their foreheads clashed, fists full of each other's hair. Ready to throw down right here right now.

Lucy took a deep breath as she interrupted their quarrel before it got out of hand. "Enough!" she breathed in a calm breathe before continuing. "You guys, after we eat I'm heading to the guild, are you coming?" She asks taking a bite of pancake. Trying to change the subject and calm nerves.

All three of the boys turned their attention to her. "Seeing Master?" Gray asks as Natsu's fingers fish hook Gray's mouth obstructing his clear speech.

Lucy nodded with syrup smudged against her lips. Mouth too full to respond with words.

Natsu turned his attention to Gray, raising a confused eyebrow. "How did you know she was goin' to see Gramps? Are you side kick or something'?" He questioned, releasing his guild mate from grasp.

Also releasing his grip, Gray replied. "It's Psychic, dumbass. And I know because she mentioned it last night, so I just figured."

Lucy signed, wiping her mouth with a napkin before standing from the table. "Can you guys finish up here, I'm going to get decent and we can leave together. Sound good?" With a heel twirl she was off to her bathroom, grabbing clean clothes on the way.

A devious smile plastered Natsu's face. "Don't worry Luce, I can handle this." Without a second spared, he dove in not leaving room to chew, or even breathe for that matter.

Gray's lips curled over his teeth from disgust from the show being held before him. "Dude, close your mouth at least. Damn." Not wanting a response, Gray took his leave. He turned back before opening the front door. "Lucy, I'll meet you guys there." He got a simple okay before making his way to the guild.

Finishing up the rest of the food, Natsu sat deep into his seat, rubbing his bloated stomach. He groaned from the rumble in his stomach. Boy did he not leave any room.

Lucy came out of the bathroom, tying her hair back in a long pony tail. "Wow, you sure didn't leave anything behind." She laughed from the look of agony upon Natsu's face. Clearly his stomach wasn't happy with all that sugar and carbs he ingested.

All she got in response was another groan. By the looks of it Lucy figured she was going to have to roll him out of her apartment. Or just leave Happy to carry him, helplessly. It was an evil plan for the little blue cat but hell if she was going to be the one to do it.

Grabbing her celestial keys and Fleuve d'étoiles, Lucy attached them to her belt before tugging at her door handle. "You guys coming?" She called back to the boys.

Natsu seemed to feel better just like that. He practically leapt out of his seat and pranced to the door where Lucy waited. "Hell yeah!" He smiled brightly. Lucy smiled back, closing the door and locking it behind them.

* * *

It was an early morning Tuesday, Magnolia wasn't as busy as the other day, only a few people walked the streets. The birds chirped, and the wind shoved the river against the stone walls. Though the weather was cold but comfortable, the sun gave off warm rays that coated the skin of everyone in a warm embrace.

The three of them finally made it to the guild after Lucy insisted on stopping in a nearby magic store to check the latest stock. Hoping for a silver gate key to make its appearance. Unfortunately, no luck for her that day. They were greeted by the happy-go-lucky Mira and an half-naked Gray having a less then happy-go-lucky time by the clinging Juvia. Who was talking about how it was their 553th anniversary?

Lucy sweated nervously as she heard a low voice calling her a love rival behind her making her shiver in response. Quickly, she walked over to Makarov who was having his early morning beer, sitting cross legged on the bartop. "Master?" Lucy asked with a nervous look upon her face.

Makarov looked up from his mug and raised his eyebrow. "What is it child?" He questioned. Placing his mug down, he stood from were he sat, making better eye contact from the more then obvious worry look upon Lucy's face.

Shuffling her hands and feet, Lucy looked around nervously. "Well… Could we talk, privately? It's a matter of importance and well, emergency." Scratching her neck, she pointed towards his office.

Confused, Makarov tilted his head but obliged. "Of course, let's talk in my office." He jumped off the bar and start walking ahead of her, leading the way.

Gray quickly stood up as he overheard their exchanged words. "Hey Lucy, do you want us to go with?" He called out at her.

Lucy smiled and waved her hands. Giving a simple head shake before making her way into the Master's office. Closing the door softly behind her, Lucy took her seat in one of the chairs across from his desk as he took the seat behind it.

Makarov grunted as he struggled only a tad to take a seat before turning his attention to Lucy. "What would you like to talk to me about, Lucy?" He shifted his body to get more comfortable.

Without saying a word, Lucy reached into her bag and pulled out the small picture. She took a minute and looked at it before sliding it face up towards Makarov. "This." She said it with a small pain in her voice which Makarov caught onto the second it left her lips.

Picking up the photograph he made eye contact with Lucy for only a minute before studying what was in his hands. He paused. The reality not quiet settling in. "A picture of you and a boy?" He questioned.

Lucy entwined her fingers before looking away from him. "Read the back." Her voice was low, struggling to speak words.

Makarov looked at Lucy again, eyebrow raised in concern from her lower register that was almost impossible to hear but he managed and obliged, turning the picture over.

After a few moments of silence. He placed the pictured carefully on his desk. Makarov closed his eyes and sat deep into his seat. "I assume you didn't know of your brother." He said as more of a statement then a question. Eyes now looking at her adverted ones.

Lucy nodded and fought back the urge to let her emotions run wild. That is the last thing she needs to happen. "Yes sir." She turned her gaze and made eye contact. "I would like to find out what happened to him, but I need help. I don't know where to start or what to do with what little information I have. I don't have any money to offer either but if anyone is willing to do this with me it would mean everything. I know taking up the guild's time for my personal agenda is selfish and disrespectful but I'm begging you to help me find him. I just need to know if he's okay or not." Lucy cuffed her fists. She was determined to find out the truth but knew there's no way she could do It alone. It pained her to take up her friend's time when they all have lives to uphold and bills to pay but she needed them now more than ever.

With a quick nod, Makarov jumped on top of his desk. "My dear child, I will make sure we give you all the answers we can possibly give to help find out what happened to him. Fairy Tail has your back, I promise." He smiled and threw his fist in the air to show his encouragement.

Standing up as well, Lucy smiled and made the same gesture. "Thanks a million Master, you're the best! You have no idea how much this means to me!" She threw her arms around him and hugged tightly, causing him to grunt from the sudden bear hug.

Pulling back from the hug, Makarov grabbed Lucy's shoulders and looked into her joyful eyes. His face softened, and his grip became lighter. "Lucy, my child. You're not being disrespectful and in no way selfish asking for help from your Friends and Family. I for one, am happy to devote my time to you and your brother. Mrs. Lucy of Fairy Tail." He gave her reassuring smile. He had her back one hundred percent even if nobody else would.

Lucy smiled softly. "Thank you, Master. That means a lot to me." Releasing from their hold, they both put themselves together and made their way to the guild hall to announce the news.

Makarov jumped up onto the bar, causing a little squeal from a surprised Mira. "Listen up!" He shouted, catching all's attention. "We have an urgent mission that I would like to bring to everyone's attention." He stopped before looking at Lucy. Making sure he should go on. A nod was all he needed, and he got it.

Taking a deep breathe, he turned his attention back to his guild. "Our dear Lucy has recently come to the attention that she has a brother who went missing when she was a young child. She has had no knowledge as of past few days. She, and I as well, would utmost appreciate if anyone would be willing to help us. There is no money to offer as a reward for services, but I think her friends and family here at Fairy Tail would happily do it free of charge anyway." He ended that last part as a stern warning that saying no wasn't really an option.

Natsu raised his eyebrow confusingly. "Are you serious? That's so dumb." He leaned back in his chair and scoffed. The whole guild went silent, everyone staring at him shockingly. The master nearly went red with anger.

Lucy spoke up. "I understand, Natsu… Let it be known, you're not obliged to help me, I understand that your time is valuable and you all have lives of your own." She smiled softly, a little sad her best friend didn't want to help her, but she understood.

Natsu stood from his seat. "That's dumb too. I was saying 'That's so dumb' to the fact you even have to ask us for help. Obviously, we're all going to help you, Werido. And if anyone says they won't, I'll kick their ass to the moon and back." He smirked at Lucy. Of course Natsu would help her, that's a given fact.

Levy ran up and grabbed Lucy's hands. "Lu-lu, of course we would love you help you!" Gajeel and Pantherlily gave Lucy a smile from behind Levy showing they were in too.

"Lucy, It would be an honor to help you in the search of your brother!" Erza put her hand over her heart and stood in a saluting stance, the most formal of acceptance.

"Natsu's right, it was dumb to even ask. If your brother is anything like you, he's probably a pretty cool dude." Gray remarked, giving her a smirk.

Throwing his arm over her shoulder, Natsu hugged Lucy tightly against his side. "I think first, you need to eat some of Mira's damn good food and get some sleep because honestly you look super tired. Your wrinkles are multiplying." He laughed mockingly. Earning him a good punch in the face by a not-so-mused Lucy.

Rolling her eyes, Lucy walked away towards Gray and Erza's table leaving Natsu to think about what he said wrong.

Though Natsu only pouted and rubbed his head in response. He didn't understand why he deserved a punch but at this point he gave up on wondering why Lucy ever hits him anymore. "For someone who was just offered free services, Lucy seems to be in a bad mood." Natsu stuck out his tongue in annoyance.

Happy smiled innocently and giggled. "Well you did just call her wrinkly sooo, in her case, the hit was justified but then agaaain… she should be more appreciative of us coming to her aid! We're like super hero's or something!" Natsu laughed in response and nodded, both striking a heroic pose in sync.

Erza rolled her eyes from overhearing their conversation

Gray ignored their stupidity and turned his attention to the very clearly exhausted Lucy, that upon noticing, Nastu wasn't wrong when he said she needed some food and a good night's rest. He wasn't going to mention it, so instead he smirked at her and leaned closer over the table. "I think we all know Natsu would've done it for you even if you didn't ask or want it." He laughed and sat back in his chair. He was clearly amused by his own comment.

Agreeing with his comment, Erza laughed alongside Gray. She then patted Lucy's shoulder softly. "I think she knows that all too well." Erza directed her words at Gray while winking at Lucy, making the blonde blush from the innuendo's they were implying.

Waving her hands in front of her face, Lucy changed the subject just before Natsu took his seat next to her. Happy plopping himself on the table with a fat juicy fish in his paws. "So anyway, I think tomorrow, if you guys are available, I'll give you all the information I have, and we can talk it over. Tonight, I'm going to go through some of Mom's old things again and look for anything indicating even the slightest hint about Kyle."

"Tomorrow is too long from now, we will do it tonight, with you." Erza interjected.

Stunned, Lucy shook her head. "No that's okay! You guys enjoy your night, I'm just going to be getting some boxes, nothing that involves a whole heap of people."

Natsu rolled his eyes. "Yeah we're going to need to help her. Last time she went to get some boxes she nearly died so." He stood, grabbing Lucy's arm in the process, bringing her to her feet. He smiled down at her and gave a thumbs up. "Hey, we said we would help you and I don't know about these guys but to me that means with everything!"

Happy, Erza and Gray all nodded and smiled in response. Prompting Lucy to thank them and offer to make dinner in gratitude which they all happily accepted without hesitation. Especially Natsu who actually started crying from her kindness of food giving. Happy doing the same.

* * *

A few hours passed by and everyone had some of Lucy's homemade seafood ramen before taking refuge on her couch. She was on a roll with her cooking lately, she kept leaving everyone very satisfied and they all were especially nice to her tonight by not going through her things like they usually do.

After Lucy put the dirty dishes away and the little bit of remanding food in her fridge. She found her way into her closet, ready to get her night started with a whole rollercoaster of emotions coming her way.

Groaning from satisfaction, Natsu flopped down onto the floor, ready to take the longest nap in history.

Gray smacked his chest before Natsu could really settle in. "It's not time to sleep man, get up." He mumbled so Lucy wouldn't hear.

Another groan erupted from Natsu's chest as he forced himself up. It hurt a little from how full his stomach was, he ate just a tad too much that he was limited in body movement at this point. "Yeah Yeah I know, keep your panties on." Gray ignored his comment and left Natsu to ungracefully find his footing to stand by grasping the coffee table for support.

Lucy skimmed the top shelves and decided to go for the closest box to her, even if It was still some ways above her. Reaching up, she put her hands on the edges of the box. She started to pull away but was suddenly met with warm hands covering hers and a sudden wave of heat overcame her.

Natsu didn't even make eye contact with her while taking the box from her and off the shelf.

Lucy retracted her hands, slowly. She didn't even notice him in the same room with her, but honestly, she was glad he was there to help because Mavis knows she would've probably hurt herself or someone else trying to get it down again.

Turning on his heels, Natsu handed the semi-light box to her and gave a big smile to go with it. "I don't really wanna see you falling on your butt again." Laughing, he turned back towards the other boxes and grabbed two for himself.

Lucy smiled. "True, plus you don't need anymore nasty cuts or bruises to go with your others. Which I'm still very sorry about that." She laughed nervously and gave him an apologetic look.

Natsu peaked around the boxes he was holding and gave her a confused look. "I thought you already apologized, am I wrong?"

"No, I did apologize already but I'm still sorry. You must still be a little sore, am _**I**_ wrong?" She questioned back.

"I would do it again." Natsu replied quickly.

"Huh?" Lucy raised her eyebrow, tilting her head to one side.

"I would do it _again_ , like what I did before, I would do it _again_ if it were to happen _again._ I would feel way worse than I do now physically then if you got hurt like that. It's not fun and very uncomfortable and annoying. Plus, if _**you**_ were uncomfortable and annoyed you would be a suuuch a pain in the ass." Natsu groaned at the thought.

Lucy's cheeks turned bright red as she blushed like an idiot. "Well thanks, Natsu. That's very sweet of you. I guess you really are my Hero!" She decided to ignore his last comment and give him a sweet smile in return before walking out to her living space.

Natsu's cheeks matched his hair. He was surprised at Lucy's sweet demeanor after calling her a 'pain in the ass' which he now realized was stupid to say since obviously she's never been a pain in the ass to him. Annoying? Sometimes, but who isn't occasionally? He snapped out of his little daze and hurried out to meet with her and the others with the last two boxes.

Bringing a chair over, Erza sat down and placed a box in front of her legs. "We can each take a box and look extra carefully. If there's an album, take the photos out and look front and back, there may be another picture attached or maybe a note or some writing. Leave nothing unturned, understood?" She glanced up at the other's and they all nodded in agreement before they all took one of the remaining three.

Happy was happy to help Natsu go through his box more so as a supervisor to make sure he doesn't destroy anything. While Plue had made an appearance and was helping Lucy with her's by handing the objects from the box to her.

Gray sat half naked in his boxers on a lounge chair, looking through some old photo albums. Lucy payed no attention to his lack of clothing as she was just grateful he was here, helping.

Two hours had gone by and they had no luck, the sun had set, and it was dark, the guild was closed at this point. It was clear in the atmosphere that some people were starting to become restless, but Lucy was hopeful and hadn't even looked up from her box to notice the time of day it was.

Lucy really needed to sort through these boxes, there was just piles of albums, letters and books. It was a whole mess that it made it harder to look through. An endless pile of her Mother's memories.

She picked up an old book that her Mother used to love. "Wow, I haven't seen this thing in… years." A sad smile came to Lucy's face. Her hands traced the book title as memories of when she was little started to flood her mind. Funny how a simple object can bring so much back to light. Things she hadn't thought about in the longest time.

Erza peaked over and read the title aloud. " _The Garden Behind The Moon.."_ The other's looked up from what they were doing, Erza drawing their attention.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, my Mother absolutely loved this book… I remember when I was a little girl, I would play in our garden while she read this and at times she would just be so lost in this book that she would eventually look up to find that I wasn't even there anymore, I was always right around the corner and I got scolded a lot for running off like that but it amazed me how involved she was with this book. I swear she read it repeatedly. Even after she would finish it she would just restart it again. It's kind of funny if you ask me." She chuckled to herself. Her eyes grew sad the more she looked at the book.

"Why did she like it so much?" Happy asked. He was now grasping her arm with his paws, looking curiously at the book and then up at Lucy.

"Don't know. She never told me nor did I ask." Lucy shrugged in response, now she was quite curious, but she would never know why, which made her even more sad about her findings. With a little hesitance, Lucy opened the book slowly only to be met with a puff of dust exploding from the worn, yellow stained pages. Coughing, she swished the dust away with her hand.

Happy covered his mouth and nose. "Yuck, Lucy. That's really dirty."

"No kidding!" Natsu interjected before sneezing suddenly. His sensitive nose was not having any of it.

Tracing the pages gently, Lucy felt something off about one of the pages. "Hm?" She questioned. Picking at the clearly uneven single page. Grabbing the corner of the nonbelonging page, she pulled it out to find a folded letter with the name _'Kyle'_ written in big letters on the front.

Lucy's eyes widened. "Guys!" She shouted suddenly, surprising everyone. "It's a letter with my brother's name on it!"

Gray and Erza rushed to Lucy's side, Natsu leaned in quickly as well as Happy and Plue. They all stared at it for what seemed like hours.

Plue, plued and grabbed Lucy's now shaking wrist. She was beyond nervous and anxious about what awaited her knowledge. The others however were becoming impatient.

"Well…? Are you going to open it or not?" Happy blurted out.

"Happy." Erza scolded with a deep warning. Happy got the message and covered his mouth.

"Yeah. Okay, yeah, I can do this. I mean it's just an envelope. No big deal." Lucy shrugged and started to fidget her movements.

Natsu had a worry written all over his face. "Lucy I can do-" before he could finish, Lucy flipped open the letter and held it up so everyone could get a peak and read.

She read aloud.

" _Dear my sweet Kyle,_

 _It's your 8_ _th_ _birthday today and I bought you this book hoping you'll like it, I skimmed through it at the bookstore and all I could think about while reading was my sweet little boy. I thought you would also enjoy reading this to your little Lucky Lucy. I know how much you love to read to her since she hasn't learned how yet so maybe you can both enjoy this little story together. I'm sure she would absolutely love that from you._

 _My other gift is taking you to the lake for the whole day and even camp under the stars and moon for the night! We'll have so much fun like we planned. So pack your bags, we're going to have the best time just me and you!_

 _Happy Birthday Love,_

 _Mom_

 _September 13, X772."_

Lucy's eyes narrowed from the pain she felt inside. She had so many questionsit was all so overwhelming to take in. There was probably more things like this waiting to be found but she couldn't even move a muscle. "His Eighth birthday…" was all she could speak.

The room fell silent. The only sound to be heard was the shaking of the paper in Lucy's palms. Her hands clenched the paper tighter with each breath and each thought that went by.

The sudden feel of her hand stopping and becoming warmer brought her back to reality.

Natsu had placed his hand onto hers for comfort.

No words. Not one was said as Lucy slowly placed her head into the crook of Natsu's neck. Using his scarf as a pillow and a resting place for the tears that escaped her eyes, still holding and rereading the note over and over again for Mavis knows how many times.

Natsu placed his other hand around her waist and kept a tight hold while still holding her hand in his other. Happy laid upon Natsu's lap, eyes filled with sorrow while Plue huddled close to Lucy's lap.

Erza sat down and started rubbing Lucy's shoulder for reassurance.

Gray had found his seat next to Erza but kept to himself, quietly as not to disrupt the moment.

They sat there for a good hour or so before they realized Lucy had fell asleep. Her eyes were swollen from the silent crying that only Natsu noticed through the smell of her tears and the feel of her chest catching from holding back the cries. He wasn't going to say anything about it, so he only held her tighter, he wanted her to know he was there, that she wasn't alone.

"You guys go to bed." Natsu suddenly whispered towards the others.

"We aren't leaving." Gray responded.

"Agreed." Erza nodded.

Natsu shook his head. "No, I mean, Erza go sleep in her bed and Gray go home."

Gray furrowed his brow, knowing he was unwelcomed by the Dragon Slayer. Obviously, he wasn't going to leave and Natsu knew that but said it anyway. Instead, Gray took to the floor carpet with a couch pillow and a spare blanket as his only comfort which was fine by him, he's slept on less comfortable.

Erza raised an eyebrow. "Why would I take the bed? Shouldn't you put Lucy in there?" She questioned.

Natsu shook his head again. "I'm not going to wake her. She's fine where she is, I'll keep her warm and comfortable, promise." He turned his head to look at Lucy's sleeping face. "She finally looks at peace. I'm not going to ruin that."

Erza nodded and smiled softly at the Dragon Slayer. He's changed so much as a man compared to when he was younger. "Alright, Natsu. You keep her safe. However, if I find out you as so much as touch or look at her wrong I will personally cut you up into tiny pieces and feed you to the wolves." She stared him down, earning her a frightened Natsu tense up in fear.

Happy scoffed. "Natsu isn't the pervert, if anything, Lucy is." He covered his mouth quickly before giggling like an idiot. He was given an angry scorn from the fiery red head, he shrieked in response.

Natsu held back his laughter and simply nodded towards Erza and whispered, "Aye sir."

Shifting his weight, Natsu sat back deeper into the couch, hand still wrapped around her waist. Lucy's head laid still on his shoulder as her feet had found their way curled up to the side. Her hands still holding the paper. It threatened to escape her light grasp, but it stayed, not leaving her fingers for a second.

Natsu eventually felt himself being lured into sleep, his cheek found itself resting on top of Lucy's head. It was surprisingly comforting to him to have someone to hold while he fell slept. It was a weird feeling he's never had, like he was safe. He's always felt warm as the same thing, a temperature but the warmth Lucy was giving off was something he's never felt before, something different. He didn't even want to move or breathe, fearing she would wake up or move.

Natsu forced himself to stay awake so he could keep this moment just a little longer. It felt right, and he didn't even know what 'felt right' meant. He just knew to cherish the moment for as long as he possibly could before sleep would consume him, which it did, within 15 minutes.

They all slept soundly where they were, no snoring, no constant movement, no Happy asking for fish in his dreams. The wind had also started to pick up and the sudden sound of rain began to patter against the roof and windows. Which only made them all fall into a deeper slumber then before.

Tomorrow would be day one of there new mission. They now had more information about Kyle that would aid their search to find him. Nothing would make Lucy happier then finding out what happened and why it happened. She deserved to know why in the hell she couldn't for the life of her remember her own brother. She would never stop looking now, not until she knew, even if it kills her.

This was going to be a very long journey for Team Natsu and the Fairy Tail guild. The answers awaiting were closer then they knew.

Only time would tell.

* * *

 **AN: A few word descriptions for you**

" **Kapeesh" (Ka-pee-sh) Meaning "Understand?"**

" **Chortling" -Meaning "originates even deeper in the chest and involves muscles of torso."**

" **Plued" – It's the word I use for the sound Plue makes when he vibrates**

 **This took forever to finish but I did it, woop!**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed it. I really want to get this romance going but since it's not Natsu's or Lucy's nature for romance, it's hard to keep them in character while still adding that spice to it. Big oof. I'll figure it out though. I guess I've found romance sometimes cringy in Nalu stories because it seems out of character but not I realize, it is and that's why it's going to be extremely difficult for me to keep them as themselves without making it, weird? I don't think that's the word I should use but oh well.**

 **I honestly have NO IDEA where I'm going with this, like I have no end in site nor what should happen in like two chapter from now. I always make it up on the spot for whatever feels right. That's probably a shitty way to do it, but that's how it goes for me I suppose.**

 **Anyway! Cya guys soon-ish but you know me, soon could mean 6 months ? I'll try, I really will.**


End file.
